#3879: Roger Gaillard Dead AP 052600 (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Patrick Slavin <pslavin@unicefusa.org>

Keywords: Roger Gaillard

With appreciation to Michael Norton for telling the world about this.

Patrick

Haitian Historian Gaillard Dies
.c The Associated Press 
By MICHAEL NORTON PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Roger Gaillard, one of Haiti's
most prominent historian, has died of a heart attack, a family member said
Friday. He was 77. Gaillard died late Thursday at Port-au-Prince's Canape Vert
Hospital, said his son, Mischa Gaillard. Gaillard also had suffered from a
kidney disorder. Gaillard was an author of dozens of historical books and
articles, but was famous for his multi-volume chronicle of the 1915-34 U.S.
Marine occupation of Haiti. He also was a journalist and, for more than 30
years, contributed articles on Haitian history and literature to Haitian
newspapers. Gaillard was rector of the State University of Haiti for a short
time after the 1986 fall of the 29-year Duvalier dictatorship. In the 1940s and
1950s, he taught French in Sophia, Bulgaria, after receiving philosophy and
French degrees from the Sorbonne. ``He was sick at heart over the decadence of
his country and discouraged by the way elections are turning out,'' said Mischa
Gaillard, a Port-au-Prince mayoral candidate in Sunday's local and parliamentary
election. ``Our most distinguished intellectual has passed away,'' said novelist
Gary Victor. Gaillard's last newspaper article was an homage to his friend, Ary
Bordes, a prominent physician who was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in
a traffic jam May 6. Gaillard had been scheduled to deliver an address on
Saturday in Paris, at the high council of the Francophonie, an association of
French-speaking countries, of which he was an active member. In addition to his
son, Gaillard is survived by his wife, Edwige, and a daughter, Gustie Pourchet.
Funeral arrangements were pending. 
AP-NY-05-26-00 1150EDT